


Intimacy

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Intimacy, F/M, Friendship, Intimacy, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Slow Burn, will eventually get to sex but probably not for 30 chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-08 23:48:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20985287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Bucky’s eyes were open as he wanted to enjoy the moment. He enjoyed how in sync they were, not having to discuss the developing intimacy before it happened. Sure, Bell had fallen asleep in his lap before but never had they laid together, especially not with her curled up against him. At first Bucky enjoyed Bell’s presence because he missed human contact, but as time had passed and he formed new connections, there was something about this relationship that he just favored over the rest.Through your friendship with Steve, you meet Bucky. As he heals and you become closer, your intimacy develops into something more than friendship.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is the first thing I've wrote as an adult (it's been 7 years) so I'm probably rusty.  
Anyway, I'm trying really hard to make this in line with the movies but obviously there will be some changes. It's gonna be a super slow burn as I'm trying to focus more on intimacy than sex.  
Also, if anyone here is a more accomplished writer and wants to help me by reading chapters early and giving me notes/feedback please hit me up.

You pressed the elevator button and dropped your arm back to your side as if it were heavy as lead. It was about 6:30 in the morning and the building was still relatively empty but not for long. It was bad enough that you had to pass security and the front desk on your walk of shame, but you really didn’t want to be seen by the wrong person, someone who would say something.

Every minute you had to wait for the elevator felt like an hour as you shifted your heels from one hand to the other and pressed the button again, despite knowing it didn’t actually make the elevator come faster. 

“Bell?” a voice came from behind you. You closed your eyes and let out a brief sigh before turning. Out of all the people you didn’t want to run into, he was one of the worst.

Steve let your name slip without thinking; He hadn’t expected to see you this early in the morning. It was only after he spoke, that he took in your appearance as you turned: a short skirt and crop top with high heels in hand. Although Steve never had a one night stand himself, he wasn’t naïve. He knew what the morning after looked like. You gave Steve an apprehensive smile, “…hi Steve…” before shifting your eyes away.

You both stood for a moment before the elevator dinged.

You immediately turned and hopped in. You just wanted to make a quick getaway and escape this but that was ripped from your hands as Steve followed you in the elevator. “Going back to your room?” Steve gave a curt nod in response as you pressed the buttons to go to your respective floors. 

You stood in awkward silence as the doors closed and you began to move. A beat went by before you spoke, “Listen, I’d super appreciate it if you…” you paused as you began to gesture with your hands, “kept this between us. Especially from Tony and Pepper.”

Steve, whose eyes had been trained on the floor and weren’t going anywhere else, gave a small cough, “Of course.” You pressed your lips together and nodded, “Thanks.” You weren’t sure if Steve was actually going to tell Tony or not, but you weren’t going to piss him off and give him a reason to. 

You both went back to silence for another minute before the doors opened and you got off without another word. You slammed your body against the door as you opened it. You were way too exhausted to care and weren’t even going to waste energy with fine-tuning your movements. You threw your shoes the moment you stepped inside and went to the fridge to grab your water bottle. You just needed to force yourself to drink half of it and then you can go crash for a few hours.

Would Steve sell you out? He doesn’t seem the type to do that but honestly, you don’t really know him. You’d pretty much kept to yourself in the four months you’ve been here. Everyone is very intimidating and you were well aware of how much more inexperienced in life you were than them. 

You force yourself to stop thinking. You’re getting distracted and sure it’s the lack of sleep. Taking the bottle with you as you headed to the couch, where you promptly fell. It’s moments like this where you appreciated your own foresight for leaving out blankets and a bucket before going out. You didn’t have to put much effort into falling asleep and was soon down for the count.

Later that same morning, you was relatively okay; you hadn’t thrown up and only had a mild headache. Only your anxiety was on overdrive from your encounter with Steve. You couldn’t care less what he personally thought but wasn’t sure what would happen if Tony and Pepper knew. 

You were a distant cousin of Pepper’s and only reached out to her for help finding a place to live while you completed your graduate schooling at NYU. Although you weren’t close in any manner, Pepper offered you a place at the tower: free of charge. Even though you were confused by the offer, you had no actual interactions besides a family get together or two when you were much younger, you accepted it without hesitation. You were already swimming in debt from your undergraduate studies and were about to pile on more. Any help was a blessing.

So a week after graduation you packed up and moved in. You had already scored an internship within the city and had no reason not to. 

Besides a few meals with Pepper, you mostly kept to herself. Everyone was intimidating here. Not just in stature but in personality as well. They were all so confident and successful. And talented. Not to mention, they also managed to be beautiful at the same time.

You had managed to get through an awkward round of introductions and that was enough for you. Everyone was nice but they were too much to be around. So you stayed in your room and avoided common areas. You did only shown up to one of the parties Tony’d thrown and were quickly overwhelmed. In the end, you left after half an hour and decided that your one attempt at being social was sign that your efforts weren’t needed.

And that led you here. A few weeks into classes and avoiding the people you technically lived with. Hell, you avoided anyone for that matter. You kept to yourself at work and school too. New York was very busy and wherever you went, you couldn’t seem to just let go and connect.

Even though you enjoyed laying on your couch, you forced yourself to get up and shower. A shower always seemed to wash away your regrets and sins.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I forgot but this takes place after the first Avengers and will move through the timeline accordingly.

The week was uneventful. Your classes were in full swing, papers, and other projects coming up in the next few weeks. Though you had been thrown off the first couple weeks of school, you were quickly adjusting. You couldn’t quite explain how it was different when your friends asked. Definitely the pacing was faster, but the interaction between professors and students was on another level. You weren’t yet being treated as colleague but also not as a student at the same time.

You were more of a wall-flower when it came to class, choosing more to listen and absorb rather than engage and interact. With this change in relationship with your professors, so did the classroom climate and you struggled. You had been staying behind on your class days to talk to your professors, and while they were great to talk with, they couldn’t advise you on how to change your style, it was up to you.

During your bi-weekly lunch with Pepper, she had suggested practicing with someone each week and it was a pretty good idea. 

“But I can’t just practice with anyone; it has to be someone who’s knows some science so they can follow what I’m saying and have a discussion.”

“Oh!” Pepper’s eyes lit up, “Tony could help you.”

You gave a small laugh between bites, “He’d turn it into a debate, not a discussion.”

“That’s true but there are a lot of people that would love to help you. Like Bruce. He’s very friendly and would love to have conversations with you.” 

You thought about it while you chewed. Bruce was probably the best choice, he was the most approachable person. “Yeah, I’ll have to stop by his lab and ask him.”

Pepper gave a bright smile, before changing the topic. You were so lucky to have her take you in. And you knew it.

You got home from class on Friday and already felt on edge. You were going to go down to the lab today and ask Dr. Banner about helping you out. You knew he was nice but if he said no, you weren’t sure what you would do. You hadn’t thought of many other options so Dr. Banner was it.

You didn’t bother to go back to your room and opted to head straight for the lab. You’d seen it once before on the welcome tour and it was so… pristine. Honestly it was beautiful in a way you hadn’t taken in before. 

Through the glass walls that seemed to shine, impossibly clear of any dirt or smudges that should be present, you could see papers scattered around. There were even a few laptops open next to pieces of machinery that you wouldn’t even be able to guess what they did. 

You spotted a man wearing a white lab coat on a stool along one of the walls. His back was turned but you could tell it was him by the black curls on his head.

Taking a deep breath, you lightly tap on the door. Dr. Banner jumped slightly, looking back. Seeing you, he smiles, and waves you in. The air hits you unexpectedly as you open the door. It was cold. 

“Hi, Dr. Banner.” You step in, subconsciously crossing your arms and rubbing them.

“Hey Bell, what brings you here?” He hands folded together in his lap as he looked at you.

“Well, in my graduate classes, we’ve been having a lot of, uh, open discussions and, um, I’ve been struggling to keep up with the others. Not that I don’t know the material but it’s a struggle to uh, to voice   
my opinions as well as I want to.” You felt the words rolling out of your mouth like you were rambling but continued anyways. “So I was hoping, if you interested and had the time of course, if you would be willing to talk an hour or two a week to just talk about it with me.”

“I’m not a speech pathologist, I don’t want you getting bad information from me.”

“No, I completely understand that and I’m not expecting a back or forth or anything but you’ll have a general understanding of what I’m talking. I’m just looking to practice and get feedback honestly.”

Bruce smiled and stood, “I’d love to help you out. Just give me a time and place and I’ll be there.”

You let out a chuckle. This was going so well, it was the best case scenario. “Can you start tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll be in the lab all day. What time were you thinking?”

“Oh, uh, how about noon? We can have lunch.” Bruce nodded. “Do you mind meeting outside of here? Maybe the lounge?”

“I’d prefer it actually.” 

“Great! Great. So, I will see you tomorrow then?” You began backing out the room, pointing at him.

“At noon in the lounge.” Bruce confirmed and turned back to whatever notes he was taking.

You left with a sense of relief. 

The next month you and Bruce had a standing lunch date every Saturday. You looked forward to quite a bit. Bruce was surprisingly knowledgeable about speech. But you suspected that he was reading up on the subject between your sessions.

You would practice with him for the first hour and then just talk about your lives. Bruce declared that he was your first friend in the city and he wasn’t wrong. 

“Oh, before I forget, I can’t meet you next weekend so could we maybe do a late Friday afternoon?” You twirled the spaghetti around your fork.

“Are you thinking dinner?” Bruce was eating some kind of meat sandwich and chips. He was a man of simple tastes.

“We can, just nothing too late.”

“Got a date?” He teased.

You let a snort, “God no. It’s Halloweekend.”

Just as Bruce raised as eyebrow at you, the doors opened and you glanced over to see Steve and Natasha walking in. You internally flinched and looked back to Bruce.

Steve and you hadn’t interacted but the fact that he knew your secret made you uncomfortable. “Um, it’s a weekend of partying basically.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were into that. What are you gonna be this year?”

You pulled your phone out, looking for a picture. “Something simple this year, just a cop.” You gave Bruce the phone and watched his reaction.

“A sexy cop.” His serious tone made you laugh.

“Yeah, Bruce, a sexy cop. Haven’t I told you I got a thing for uniforms?”

Bruce’s cheeks flushed and he decided to change the topic. “Just be safe when you’re out there, alright? Don’t drink too much.”

When your eyes flickered to Steve, you unintentionally made eye contact with him as he was already looking at you. You stood and began to gather your stuff, “I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine.”

You threw your bag over you shoulder and walked to Bruce, giving him a quick side hug as he continued to eat his sandwich, “I’ll see you on Friday.”

He gave a mumble goodbye and you walked out, not daring to glance at Steve. 

“Not a good choice, Rogers.” 

Steve looked at Natasha, “What?”

Nat looked up. “She’s Pepper’s cousin. Pretty sure she’s off limits.”

Steve scoffed, “It’s not like that.”

“Really? Because you were eyeballing that girl so hard, she left.”

Steve didn’t respond. He didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. But when he overheard that you were planning on partying, he couldn’t help but think back to that morning. And it concerned him. He   
knew that there was nothing wrong with what you were doing. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t right.

“You should go down to her room and apologize.” Nat’s smile clearly showed that her true thoughts. But Steve wasn’t going to contradict her. He would have to explain what was really going on and he   
didn’t want to go back on his word.

Steve set his cup down, “That’s a great idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I mention this is slow burn?

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism always appreciated!


End file.
